Method of and apparatus for selectively sorting empty and partly wound reels

ABSTRACT

Reels that have been unloaded from utilization stations, some of which reels are partly wound with wires of different kinds and some of which reels are empty, are selectively sorted by causing the reels to travel from the utilization stations in succession along a common return path to plant at which empty reels are rewound with wire. In turn each partly wound reel is diverted from the common return path and is circulated around and stored temporarily in an endless storage path. Two reels partly wound with wire of the same kind are removed from the storage path and the exposed end of the wire on one of the two reels is welded to the exposed end of the wire on the other reel. The wire from the second reel is then wound on the first reel. The second reel when empty travels along a path to the rewinding plant. As necessary further reels partly wound with wire of the same kind as that of the first two reels are removed from the storage path and the latter two steps repeated until the first reel is fully wound with wire. The fully wound reel travels along a path to a storage area.

limited States Patent [72] Inventors James Atherton Wrexham, Wales; David Sydney Goodiellow, Shrewsbury, England [21] Appl. No. 847,614 [22] Filed Aug. 5, 1969 [45] Patented Aug. 17, 1971 [73] Assignee British Insulated Callenders Cables Limited London, England [32] Priority Aug. 7, 1968 [33] Great Britain [31] 37710/68 [54] METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SELECTIV ELY SORTING EMPTY AND PARTLY WOUND REELS 1 1 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs. [52] U.S. Cl 242/79, 209/125, 242/25, 242/58.6 [51] Int. Cl ..B21c 47/24, B65 h 54/00 [50] Field of Search 242/79, 25; 292/58.6; 209/125 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,807,211 5/1931 Hoefen 209/125 V To Sta/age I 1 s I I 7b Stora e Area 9 l l 2,801,057 7/1957 Rayburn 242/79 FOREIGN PATENTS 634,912 11/1963 Belgium 242/79 Primary ExaminerGeorge F. Mautz Assistant ExaminerMilton Gerstein Att0rney- Buell, Blenko and Ziesenheim ABSTRACT: Reels that have been unloaded from utilization stations, some of which reels are partly wound with wires of different kinds and some of which reels are empty. are selectively sorted by causing the reels to travel from the utilization stations in succession along a common return path to plant at which empty reels are rewound with wire. In turn each partly wound reel is diverted from the common return path and is circulated around and stored temporarily in an endless storage path. Two reels partly wound with wire of the same kind are removed fromthe storage path and the exposed end of the wire on one of the two reels is welded to the exposed end of the wire on the other reel. The wire from the second reel is then wound on the first reel. The second reel when empty travels along a path to the rewinding plant. As necessary further reels partly wound with wire of the same kind as that of the first two reels are removed from the storage path and the latter two steps repeated until the first reel is fully wound with wire. The fully wound reel travels along a path to a storage area.

from Strand/rig me /e PATENTED mm 7 |97| SHEET 1 [)F 2 Inventor JAMEs 477 /17 70 Q4 7 7MB camvmaw A Home y The invention is particularly applicable for use in combination with plant for manufacturing stranded wire conductors or for armoring electric cables. This invention relates to methods of and apparatus for selectively sorting reels, bobbins and drums (all hereinafter for convenience referred to as reels) some of which reels are .partly wound with wire, cable or other elongated flexible material (all hereinafter include in the term wire) and some of which reels are empty. That is to say it relates to methods of which reels are empty. That is to say it relates to methods of and apparatus for sorting a plurality of similar reels, some of which are partly wound with a limited number of different kinds of wire, for example wires of various sizes, shapes and/or compositions, and some of which are empty, in such a way that a partly wound reel is subsequently either fully wound with wire of the same kind or is unwound until it is empty, fully wound reels being fed to a storage area and empty reels being fed to plant at which they will be rewound with wire. The invention' is particularly concerned with methods of and apparatus for selectively sorting partly wound and empty reels that have been unloaded from a utilization station or a plurality of utilization stations and are travelling from the utilization station or stations in succession along a common return path.

In accordance with our invention we provide a method of selectively sorting a plurality of reels that have been unloaded from a utilization station or from a plurality of utilization stations, some of which reels are partly wound with wires of different kinds and some of which reels are empty, which method comprises causing the reels to travel from the utilization station or stations in succession along a common return path to plant at which empty reels are rewound with wire, causing each partly wound reel in turn to be diverted from the common return path and to circulate around and to be stored temporarily in an endless storage path, removing from the endless storage path two reels partly wound with wire of the same kind, welding or otherwise permanently connecting the exposed end of the wire on one of the two reels to the exposed end of the wire on the other reel and winding on to the first reel the wire from the second reel, causing the second reel when empty to travel along a path to said rewinding plant, removing from the endless storage path one or more further reels partly wound with wire of the same kind as that of the first two reels and repeating the latter two steps as necessary until the first reel is fully wound with wire, and causing the fully wound reel to travel along a path to a storage area.

The invention also includes novel apparatus for carrying out the aforesaid method, which apparatus comprises means for moving partly wound and empty reels from a utilization station or stations successively along a common return path, means located at a transfer station on the path for diverting partly wound reels to means for circulating said reels around an endless storage path, means for diverting a partly wound reel from the endless storage path to means for moving said reel to welding or other apparatus for permanently connecting together the exposed ends of the wire of two reels partly wound with wire of the same kind and winding apparatus for winding on to one of the two reels the wire from the other reel, means for moving an empty reel from said winding apparatus along path to plant at which empty reels are rewound with wire, and means for moving a fully wound reel from said winding apparatus along a path to a storage area.

The invention has special, but not exclusive, application to the manufacture of a stranded wire conductor or a stranded wire rope where reels that are partly wound with wires of different kinds or that are empty are unloaded from a stranding machine or group of stranding machines and are caused to travel in succession along a common return path away from the machine or group of machines. It may also be applied to the armoring of electric cables or of pipes or tubes where reels that are partly wound with armoring wires of different kinds or 2 that are empty are unloaded and conveyed along a common return path from the armoring machine or machines.

The means for circulating partly wound reels around the endless storage path preferably comprises at least one chain conveyor comprising a pair of spaced chains which are connected by longitudinally spaced, tranversely extending slats or blocks on which the reels can be supported. The conveyor of the endless storage path preferably has a transfer station at which means is provided for diverting a partly wound reel from the endless storage path to the means for moving the partly wound reel to the vicinity of the welding and winding apparatus or for diverting a partly wound reel back onto a conveyor of the endless storage path.

The means for moving reels along the common return path and the means for moving a partly wound reel from the endless storage path to the vicinity of the welding and winding apparatus preferably comprises a chain conveyor or endless belt. Where a chain conveyor is employed it is preferably of similar construction to that of the endless storage path.

The reels are preferably caused to move along the common return path from the utilization station or stations, around the endless storage path and to the welding and winding apparatus with their axes vertical. In this case the means at the transfer station in the common return path for diverting a partly wound reel to the endless storage path and the means at the transfer station in the endless storage path for diverting a partly wound reel on to the conveyor for moving a reel to the welding and winding apparatus preferably each comprise two or more longitudinally extending, parallel rollers which are located between the chains of the conveyor of the path and are driven by means that is independent of the means driving the conveyor of the path. The rollers are mounted in a frame which, when a partly wound reel is passing above the longitudinally extending rollers, can be caused to pivot about an axis parallel to the rollers and transversely spaced form the axis of the path at that station to raise the rollers and tilt the frame in such a direction as to drive the reel transversely on to the conveyor of the endless storage path or of the winding machine conveyor, as'the case may be.

At the other end of the winding machine conveyor there is preferably located a reel downender for turning a reel through so that it can be rolled off the conveyor on to a trolley or other vehicle for carrying partly wound reels to the inlet or outlet end of a winding machine.

Beyond the transfer means to the endless storage path the common return path preferably branches into two paths, along one of which empty reels are moved to the vicinity of plant at which they are rewound with wire and along the other of which fully wound or substantially fully wound reels are moved to a storage area. With a view to preserving floor space the conveyor branch for carrying empty reels to the vicinity 01' plant at which they are rewound with wire preferably extend underground. Empty reels from the winding apparatus are preferably carried with their axes vertical to the conveyor of the common return path by a conveyor and are diverted on to the conveyor of the common retu'rn path for carriage to rewinding plant by transfer means of similar construction to that previously described. Fully wound reels from the winding apparatus are preferably fed to the conveyor of the common return path for carriage to the storage area by another conveyor and/or associate transfer means.

The invention will now be further described, by way of example, in its application to a plant for manufacturing stranded aluminum conductors and/or stranded copper conductors with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a plan view of the layout of the reel-sorting apparatus,

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic side view of a reel transfer unit, and

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic side view of a reel downender.

In apparatus shown in FIG. 1 partly wound and empty reels that have been unloaded from the stranding machines of the plant are carried successively away from the stranding machines along a common return path on a chain conveyor 1 running at approximately floor level on which the reels are supported with their axes substantially vertical. At a transfer station 2 along the common return path a transfer unit (FIG. 2) is provided which can be caused to divert partly wound reels on to a rectilinear chain conveyor 3 extending at right angles to the return conveyor 1. Part way along the chain conveyor 3 is a transfer station 4 at which the partly wound reels are diverted on to an endless conveyor system 5 consisting of a part of the chain conveyor 3 and two substantially parallel rectilinear chain conveyors 6 and 7 extending at right angles to he chain conveyor 3 and interconnected at their ends remote from the chain conveyor 3 by a smoothly curved conveyor part. The endless conveyor system 5 constitutes an endless storage path for partly wound reels. The chain conveyor 7 extends beyond the chain conveyor 3 and has a transfer station 8 at which is located a transfer unit for diverting partly wound reels back on to the chain conveyor 3 for rediversion via the transfer station 4 back into the endless storage path 5. At the free end of the chain conveyor 7 is a reel downender 9 (FIG. 3) for tilting a partly wound reel that has been selected for rewinding through 90 so that the reel is arranged wit its axis horizontal and substantially parallel to the rectilinear conveyor 7.

Extending substantially parallel to the return conveyor 1 is a pair of inlaid tracks 11 and 12 for reel support trolleys whose supporting surface lies substantially at floor level and which are adapted to support partly wound reels that have been rolled on their flanges from the reel downender 9. These tracks are located at opposite ends of welding apparatus 14 for connecting together the exposed ends of the wire of two reels partly wound with wire of the same kind and winding apparatus 15 for winding on to one of the two reels with the wire from the other reel. Close to one end of the track 11 is a reel downender 16 by means of which a reel from which wire has been unwound can be turned through 90 so that its axis is substantially vertical and can be transferred to a rectilinear conveyor 22 which extends below floor level in a direction substantially normal to the return conveyor 1. Close to one end of the track 12 is a reel downender 17 which serves to turn a reel which has been fully wound with wire through 90 so that its axis is substantially vertical and to coney it on to a transfer unit at a transfer station 18 which will divert the fully wound reel on to a conveyor 19 which constitutes a continuation of the return conveyor 1 and which serves to carry fully wound reels to a storage area for feeding the stranding machines. In its passage to the storage area each fully wound reel transverse a weighing unit (not shown) which records the weight and kind and size of wire on the reel in order that each reel can be stored with reels wound with wire of the same kind and size.

Beyond the transfer station 2 the return conveyor 1 extends to a vertically adjustable reel support table 20 by which empty reels can be lowered and transfered to a chain conveyor 21 that extends below floor level under the conveyor 19 and that serves to carry empty reels successively to plant at which they are rewound wit wire. The reel support table 20 comprises two transversely extending parallel rollers which are arranged to lie between the chains of the return conveyor 1 or the conveyor 21 and are driven by means that is independent of means driving the conveyors l, 19 and 21. The table 20 is movable vertically from a position in which it is substantially coplanar with the return conveyor 1 and conveyor 19 to a position in which is it coplanar with the underground conveyor 21. The underground conveyor 22 has at one end a transfer station 23 at which is located a transfer unit for diverting empty reels from the conveyor 22 on to the underground conveyor 21.

The form of transfer unit located at each of the transfer stations, 2, 4, 8, 18 and 23 is shown diagrammatically in FIG. 2 and comprises a pair of independently driven, longitudinally extending parallel rollers 33 mounted on a frame 32 which can be caused to tilt about an axis 34 parallel t the roller axes by a rod 36 connected to the piston of a pneumatically or hydraulically operated cylinder 35 located at the other end of the frame. When a reel that has been selected for diversion is located at a transfer station the end of the frame 32 opposite its pivoting axis 34 is raised by the rod 36 of the pneumatically or hydraulically operated cylinder 35 to tilt the frame in such a direction as to cause the rollers 33 to drive the reel off the transfer unit.

Each reel downender 9, l6 and 17 is of the form shown diagrammatically in FIG. 3 and constitutes a short two-part chain conveyor system which forms and extension of the conveyor from or on to which a reel is to be lowered or raised. One part 41 of the two-part conveyor system of the reel downender is fixed in space relative to the conveyor with which it is associated and is driven at the same speed as that of the conveyor by a chain drive 42. The other part 43 of the twopart conveyor system is pivotally mounted about a transverse axis 45 at or near the end remote from the conveyor part 41. Pivotal movement of the conveyor part 43 to turn a reel through and lower it to the floor or deposit it on the associated conveyor is controlled by a rack and pinion arrangement 46. The conveyor part 43 has an end plate 44 that is normal to the supporting surfaces of the rollers of the conveyor part and that serves to support the flanges of a reel when the conveyor part has been caused to pivot through 90 so that the axes of its rollers lie in a substantially vertical plane and the end plate is horizontal.

In close vicinity to the plan (not shown) at which empty reels are rewound with wire there is preferably provided a doubledeck" conveyor 27. In this case the conveyor 21 carrying empty reels, which as previously mentioned runs underground, has at its delivery end an elevator and transfer unit 28 for raising an empty reel from the conveyor 21 and transferring it on to the upper conveyor 29 of the double-deck conveyor 27, from which it can be fed via downenders 30 to the rewinding plant. Fully wound reels from the rewinding plant are loaded on to the lower conveyor 31 of the doubledeck conveyor 27, which for ease of transfer is located at floor level, for carriage to the storage area of the fully wound reels.

It will be appreciated that some the partly wound reels travelling along the return conveyor 1 of the common return path will contain insufficient wire to justify the time that would be incurred in welding or otherwise permanently connecting the wire of one reel to the wire of another reel an winding it thereon. To strip the wire from such reels, hereinafter referred to as nearly empty reels a turntable 25 is provided in the return conveyor 1 which, when a nearly empty reel passes above it, can be raised clear of the return conveyo. 1 so that the wire can be unwound from the reel by a decoiling capstan 26. When empty, the turntable 25 is lowered and the reel is carried by the conveyor 1 of the common return path for transfer via the reel table 20 to the conveyor 21 for'carriage to the rewinding plant. The wire unwound from nearly empty reels will normally be scrapped. In an alternative construction the turntable 25 may be of such a construction that it can be moved transversely out of the common return path 1 so that a nearly empty reel can be unwound without impeding the passage of other reels along the return conveyor 1.

It will also be appreciated that some of the reels travelling along the conveyor 1 of the common return path will, to all intents and purposes, be fully wound, e.g. as would be the case where a stranding machine is unloaded in order that it can be reloaded for stranding a conductor of a different size. These substantially fully wound reels are allowed to pass through the table 20 and are carried to the storage area of the fully wound reels by the conveyor 19.

Operation of the transfer unit at the transfer station 2 in the return conveyor 1 will normally be under manual control, an operator deciding whether a reel is substantially fully wound, partly wound, nearly empty or empty as each reel approaches the transfer unit. The transfer unit at the transfer station 8 in the endless storage path 5 may be manually or automatically operated in response to visual or magnetic code markings on each reel. All other transfer units will normally be manually operated.

The methods and apparatus of the present invention is especially, but not exclusively, designed for use with the method of and apparatus for selectively storing reels containing wire and for selectively feeding such reels to a utilization station or stations as described and claimed in the specification of US. Pat. application Ser. No. 813,923 filed Apr. 7, 1967.

What we claim as our invention is:

l. A method of selectively sorting a plurality of reels that have been unloaded from at least one utilization station, some of which reels are partly wound with wires of different kinds and some of which reels are empty, which method comprises:

a. causing the reels to travel from the utilization station in succession along a common return path to plant a rewinding plant at which empty reels are rewound with wire,

b. causing each partly wound reel in turn to be diverted from the common return path and to circulate around and to be stored temporarily in an endless storage path,

c. removing from the endless storage path two reels partly wound with wire of the same kind,

d. permanently connecting the exposed end of the wire on one of the two reels to the exposed end of the wire on the other reel and winding on to the first reelthe wire from the second reel,

e. causing the second reel when empty to travel along a path to said rewinding plant,

f. as necessary removing from the endless storage path at least one further reel partly wound with wire of the same kind as that of the first two reels and repeating the latter two steps until the first reel is fully wound with the wire, and

g. causing the fully wound reel to travel along a path to a storage area.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein each partly wound reel that has only a small quantity of wire wound upon it in turn is caused to be diverted from the common return path to a position at which the wire can be unwound from the reel, the wire is unwound from the reel, and the empty reel is returned to the common return path and is caused to travel to the rewinding plant.

3. Apparatus for selectively sorting a plurality of reels that have been unloaded from at least one utilization station, some of which reels are partly wound with wires of different kinds and some of which reels are empty, which apparatus comprises:

a. means for moving partly wound 'and empty reels from a utilization station successively along a common return path,

b. means for circulating reels around an endless storage path,

c. means located at a transfer station on the common return path for diverting partly wound reels to said reel circulating means,

d. apparatus for permanently connecting together the exposed ends of the wire of two reels partly wound with wire of the same kind,

e. winding apparatus for winding on to one of the two reels the wire from the other reel,

f. means for diverting partly wound reels in turn from the endless storage path and for moving each to said wireconnecting and winding apparatus,

g. plant at which empty reels are rewound with wire,

h. means for moving an empty reel from said winding apparatus along a path to said rewinding plant, i. a storage area for fully wound reels, and j. means for moving a fully wound reel from said winding apparatus along a path to said storage area. 4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, in which means is located on the common return path beyond the transfer station for causing substantially fully wound reels to as from the common return path to said means for moving fully wound reels to the storage area and for causing empty reels to pass from the common return path to means for moving empty reels to said rewinding plant.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, in which the means for moving partly wound and empty reels along a common return path, the means for circulating partly wound reels around the endless storage path, the means for moving a partly wound reel from the endless storage path to the wire connecting and winding apparatus, the means for moving fully wound reels to the storage area, and the means for moving empty reels to the rewinding plant each comprises at least one chain conveyor.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, in which over at least part of its length the conveyor for moving empty reels to the rewinding plant extends substantially parallel to and beneath the conveyor for moving fully wound reels to the storage area.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, in which the conveyor for moving empty reels to the rewinding plant extends below floor level for at least a part of its length.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, in which the means for causing substantially fully wound reels an empty reels to pass from the return conveyor, respectively, to the conveyor for moving fully wound reels to the storage area and to the conveyor for moving empty reels to the rewinding plant comprises a vertically adjustable reel support table movable from a position in which it is substantially coplanar wit the return conveyor and the conveyor for moving fully wound reels to he storage area to a position in which it is substantially coplanar with the conveyor for moving empty reels to the rewinding plant.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, in which one conveyor of the endless storage path is rectilinear and lies at right angles to the return conveyor and the conveyor for moving a partly wound reel from the endless storage path to the wire connecting and winding apparatus lies at right angles to said conveyor of the endless storage path.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9, in which the means located at the transfer station on the return conveyor for diverting partly wound reels to the conveyor of the endless storage path that is at right angles to he return conveyor and the means at the transfer station in the endless storage path for diverting a partly wound reel from the conveyor for moving a partly wound reel to the wire connecting and winding apparatus back on to a conveyor of the endless storage path, each comprises two or more longitudinally extending parallel rollers which are located between the chains of the conveyor of the path and are driven by means that is independent of the means driving the conveyor of the path, the rollers being mounted in a frame which, when a partly wound reel is passing above the longitudinally extending rollers, can be caused to pivot about an axis parallel to the rollers and transversely spaced from the axis of the path at the station to raise the rollers and tilt the frame in such a direction as to drive the reel transversely off the conveyor.

1 1, Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, in which a turntable is provided in the return conveyor which can be moved clear of the return conveyor so that wire can be unwound from an early empty reel supported on the turntable. 

1. A method of selectively sorting a plurality of reels that have been unloaded from at least one utilization station, some of which reels are partly wound with wires of different kinds and some of which reels are empty, which method comprises: a. causing the reels to travel from the utilization station in succession along a common return path to plant a rewinding plant at which empty reels are rewound with wire, b. causing each partly wound reel in turn to be diverted from the common return path and to circulate around and to be stored temporarily in an endless storage path, c. removing from the endless storage patH two reels partly wound with wire of the same kind, d. permanently connecting the exposed end of the wire on one of the two reels to the exposed end of the wire on the other reel and winding on to the first reel the wire from the second reel, e. causing the second reel when empty to travel along a path to said rewinding plant, f. as necessary removing from the endless storage path at least one further reel partly wound with wire of the same kind as that of the first two reels and repeating the latter two steps until the first reel is fully wound with the wire, and g. causing the fully wound reel to travel along a path to a storage area.
 2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein each partly wound reel that has only a small quantity of wire wound upon it in turn is caused to be diverted from the common return path to a position at which the wire can be unwound from the reel, the wire is unwound from the reel, and the empty reel is returned to the common return path and is caused to travel to the rewinding plant.
 3. Apparatus for selectively sorting a plurality of reels that have been unloaded from at least one utilization station, some of which reels are partly wound with wires of different kinds and some of which reels are empty, which apparatus comprises: a. means for moving partly wound and empty reels from a utilization station successively along a common return path, b. means for circulating reels around an endless storage path, c. means located at a transfer station on the common return path for diverting partly wound reels to said reel circulating means, d. apparatus for permanently connecting together the exposed ends of the wire of two reels partly wound with wire of the same kind, e. winding apparatus for winding on to one of the two reels the wire from the other reel, f. means for diverting partly wound reels in turn from the endless storage path and for moving each to said wire-connecting and winding apparatus, g. plant at which empty reels are rewound with wire, h. means for moving an empty reel from said winding apparatus along a path to said rewinding plant, i. a storage area for fully wound reels, and j. means for moving a fully wound reel from said winding apparatus along a path to said storage area.
 4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, in which means is located on the common return path beyond the transfer station for causing substantially fully wound reels to pass from the common return path to said means for moving fully wound reels to the storage area and for causing empty reels to pass from the common return path to means for moving empty reels to said rewinding plant.
 5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, in which the means for moving partly wound and empty reels along a common return path, the means for circulating partly wound reels around the endless storage path, the means for moving a partly wound reel from the endless storage path to the wire connecting and winding apparatus, the means for moving fully wound reels to the storage area, and the means for moving empty reels to the rewinding plant each comprises at least one chain conveyor.
 6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, in which over at least part of its length the conveyor for moving empty reels to the rewinding plant extends substantially parallel to and beneath the conveyor for moving fully wound reels to the storage area.
 7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, in which the conveyor for moving empty reels to the rewinding plant extends below floor level for at least a part of its length.
 8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, in which the means for causing substantially fully wound reels an empty reels to pass from the return conveyor, respectively, to the conveyor for moving fully wound reels to the storage area and to the conveyor for moving empty reels to the rewinding plant comprises a vertically adjustable reel support table movable from a position in which it is substantially coplanar wit the return conveyor and the conveyor for moving fully wound reels to he storage area to a position in which it is substantially coplanar with the conveyor for moving empty reels to the rewinding plant.
 9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, in which one conveyor of the endless storage path is rectilinear and lies at right angles to the return conveyor and the conveyor for moving a partly wound reel from the endless storage path to the wire connecting and winding apparatus lies at right angles to said conveyor of the endless storage path.
 10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9, in which the means located at the transfer station on the return conveyor for diverting partly wound reels to the conveyor of the endless storage path that is at right angles to he return conveyor and the means at the transfer station in the endless storage path for diverting a partly wound reel from the conveyor for moving a partly wound reel to the wire connecting and winding apparatus back on to a conveyor of the endless storage path, each comprises two or more longitudinally extending parallel rollers which are located between the chains of the conveyor of the path and are driven by means that is independent of the means driving the conveyor of the path, the rollers being mounted in a frame which, when a partly wound reel is passing above the longitudinally extending rollers, can be caused to pivot about an axis parallel to the rollers and transversely spaced from the axis of the path at the station to raise the rollers and tilt the frame in such a direction as to drive the reel transversely off the conveyor.
 11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, in which a turntable is provided in the return conveyor which can be moved clear of the return conveyor so that wire can be unwound from an early empty reel supported on the turntable. 